An Unrelenting Storm
by dreamingfate
Summary: AU: A wanderer chances upon a wounded man in the depths of the forest, and makes a decision that will change the course of his life forever. Written as Hon3ypie. Kakashi/Iruka, Iruka/ Kakashi. Explicit yaoi.


Dark skies emptied onto the thick forest below, the moisture that had formed them during the heat of the day returning to the earth in huge droplets which slapped heavily into the stiff foliage. The howling storm winds buffeted the tree canopy abducting whirls of leaves into the ravaged night sky as streaks of blue lightening electrified the air.

Beneath it all a man who was smart enough and experienced enough not to make camp on the ground pulled his clothes in around him for warmth and watched the flooding forest floor as the flow of water quickened, carrying its stolen debris downstream. He was sheltered from most of the storm nestled in the crook of a tree-branch, though occasionally a large wet droplet would fall from the canopy above and land on him somewhere, much to his irritation. The man resigned himself to the fact that it was probably going to be a long night and tied his long, brown hair up so that he could feel the benefit of the cool air on the back of his neck after such a hot day. The forest smelled of wet earth and damp leaves.

A sudden cry rang out through the trees, and the man narrowed his eyes in the direction it had come from, wondering whether it was a trick of his imagination or the call of some exotic creature. He heard it again, longer and more anguished this time.

The tortured shouts were human. He stood and strained to hear better over the noise of the driving wind and rain, wondering whether it was worth his effort to investigate as he knew nothing of the locals in the area and could risk getting himself into a great deal of trouble. The cries weakened.

The man sighed and reluctantly leapt up to a nearby tree branch, fixing the arrangement of trees in his mind so he could remember where he'd left his belongings, then sped through the dark canopy towards the sound.

He stopped suddenly, sandaled feet struggling for purchase against the soaked tree bark. Below, a man lay unconscious on his front as the rainwater flooded past, drenching his dark clothes and thick silver hair, and drowning him. A long slender shard of silver pierced him just below the shoulder blade and from the shape of the sheath on his back the wanderer presumed the man had been impaled by his own weapon and left for dead.

He stayed hidden in the complete dark of the tree cover until he was sure the man's attackers were long gone, and dropped down with a splash beside him.

He grabbed the man by the black material covering his shoulders and raised him off the ground to better assess his condition; a difficult task on such a dark night but he couldn't risk using artificial light sources. The wound was bad. The blade had penetrated through the man's chest on the other side. Had he been able to see in the darkness of the storm-torn forest he knew the swirling waters would be stained red.

For a difficult moment the wanderer stood holding the dying stranger just above the flooded ground, and considered his options as the water soaked him up from the floor and down from the sky. It was unlikely that he would be able to treat such a severe injury, and it was probably already infected by the flood waters. He wondered whether it would perhaps be kinder to replace him and let him die, as his attackers had meant. There was no guarantee that the man had been hurt undeservedly.

The wanderer shifted his grip on the man and lifted his face up. A white streak of lightening tore across the sky, illuminating the earth below. Even though he was unconscious, the pain he was in showed through, curling his lip and furrowing his brow. But it was a beautiful face, nonetheless.

He took pity on the silver-haired man and lifted him bodily, and taking care not to nudge the blade in his shoulder carried him to the place up in the trees where he'd left his belongings, laying him gently on a blanket on his front.

Using his limited medical kit and some strips of a sacrificed shirt he set to work on the man's injury, trying his best to slow the bleeding and clean the wound as he sewed it closed on his back and then his chest. He covered the man in another blanket and braced himself against the tree trunk with his head resting in his lap, and stayed that way monitoring his pulse until the storm had passed and next day's sun rose into the clear blue sky.

Once the heat of the day had given way to the still cool of the evening, the wanderer set up camp on the dried forest floor and carefully moved his patient to a more rested position by the fire. For the next two days and nights he tended to him, forcing him to take water and changing the dressing on his wound, watching him fight for survival against the trauma and blood-loss he had suffered. From time to time he wondered absently about the man's identity and what he had been doing in the forest the night he found him.

-b-

Each breath brought with it a searing, debilitating shock of pain. He remembered himself, and the familiar blade that had speared him but as he woke properly he was not where he had expected to be. He was suddenly aware of a fluctuating warmth on his cheek and snapped his eyes open, glaring at the flickering remnants of a campfire. His body stiffened as he noticed the other man.

A stupid fool. His sword had been left by his side, and he drew the blade from the sheath silently as he lifted his body from the floor ignoring the pain in his shoulder and chest. The man realised with a sinking feeling that he had been un-masked, feeling the chill night air on his face where there should have been cloth. In his mind, that sealed the other man's fate. He had been planning to torture and interrogate him to discover the reasons for his capture, but now that he knew the man had seen his face, he had to die.

Why had the man allowed himself to be caught so unprepared? His face was peaceful, long brown hair spread over one cheek and eyes wandering as they traced unseen dream objects. He stood over him and readied the blade above the wanderer's neck, about to thrust it down when the man's eyes opened, looking up into his with silent shock and then at the weapon, glowing beautifully in the orange light of dawn. The man opened his mouth to shout but he covered it with his hand, dropping the sword and moving his other hand to the man's neck.

The man writhed under his weight, clawing at the hands squeezing the life from his body. He felt the sickly satisfaction of power flood his body again as tears of desperation pricked the man's eyes and rolled down his tanned cheeks and over the scar bridging his nose. He looked into his eyes with pleading urgency, begging to be released, but they were met with utter stern conviction.

The wanderer knew the man he had saved intended to kill him. He plunged the fingers of one hand up into the wound he had worked so hard to heal, ripping the stitches as he thrust his hand in deep. His attacker yowled in pain and fell backwards as the newly-opened injury gushed hot blood down his chest. The man glared at the wanderer and put a hand up to his wound to slow the bleeding. The world blurred, and he lost consciousness again.

When he woke, his arms were bound to his sides and his legs were tied together at the knees and ankles. The silver-haired man sat bolt upright, searching for his captor. The brown-haired wanderer was sitting by the fire in dark fabric trousers and a light coloured shirt that had become tatty around the sleeves, grilling a selection of fish.

"Oh good, you're awake again." He said sarcastically, rubbing the sore patches on his neck from the earlier attack, then looked at the fish roasting in the fire.

"Don't move around too much, you'll rip your new stitches." He muttered, pushing back strands of hair that had escaped the tie holding the rest of it together.

The man looked down at his chest, and was shocked to discover the dressing covering his shoulder.

"You had a collapsed lung, if you're interested."

He flopped back onto the blankets, and discretely tested the bindings that held him.

"I hope you don't think I'm _that_ stupid." The man said. "That's the last time I help anyone I find half-dead in the middle of a forest."

He stopped struggling against the chords holding him, but said nothing. The wanderer removed the fish from the fire and walked over to him, sitting cross-legged at his side. He pulled a chunk from one of the skewered creatures and offered it to the other man. He refused it, turning his face away. The wanderer sighed.

"It's not poisoned, idiot. Look."

The man ate the chunk himself, making patronising stomach patting motions as he swallowed the mouthful.

"See? Delicious."

He offered the man another chunk from the same fish. He didn't respond, and the man let out an exasperated sigh.

"If you don't eat, you'll be too weak to survive, and definitely too weak to break your ties and try to kill me again. Eat the damn fish."

The man turned his head to look at the chunk, sniffing at it suspiciously first then taking it from the wanderer's fingers and secretly savouring the delicious taste.

"More?"

The man turned away again in spite of the amount he was salivating thinking about another mouthful of fish. He didn't enjoy being fed like a dog.

"Suit yourself. More for me."

The man's brows furrowed as he considered the motives of the wanderer. He knew from experience that people were only ever kind if they wanted something in return.

"I'm Umino Iruka, by the way. What's your name?"

He didn't respond.

"You don't talk much, do you."

He decided to kill the other man the next time he had the opportunity, but in the meantime he would take advantage of the treatment he was getting.

---b---

The morning air felt crisp against his skin, and he could feel that his hair was damp despite the covering tarpaulin hanging from the branches above. The sweet, sharp sound of birds chirruping the morning chorus summoned the dawn as the warmth of the rising sun filtered through the forest canopy and drew a faint lingering mist from the earth. The smell of a delicious breakfast wafted past his nose.

He opened his eyes to find the man who had called himself Umino Iruka sitting on his haunches not far away, giving him a suspicious look. He pulled a reasonable-length knife from a sheath on his thigh and brandished it towards him with a stern look on his face.

"I'm going to cut your bindings." He announced, a little hesitantly. "You're too stubborn or proud or whatever to let me feed you, so if I don't you'll weaken and die and this will all have been pointless."

The silver-haired man shrugged off his blankets and rolled onto his front to expose the knots in the ropes restraining him. Iruka narrowed his eyes.

"_However_," he said, "If you're the sort of ungrateful bastard that still intends to kill me after I brought you back from the dead, please first consider that it is _very_ likely that without me to attend to your wound you will get blood poisoning and die horribly."

The man looked down at the blankets and appeared to consider this, then met Iruka's gaze again and looked at him expectantly.

He moved cautiously over to the man and carefully put the edge of the blade to the rope. After pulling the knife through it he backed away and let him untangle himself, wincing and taking care not to move his injured shoulder too much. He stood for the first time in days, legs shaky and weak beneath his weight. Iruka went to steady him but was pushed away as the man removed his blood- and dirt-sodden shirt and threw it onto the fire, watching it burn. He sat back on the floor, concealing his wooziness as much as possible.

Iruka offered him a fish with a nervous smile and he took it, only to grab the other man's fish from his hands and swap it for his, tucking greedily into the cooked flesh.

Iruka smirked. "I could have pre-empted that you'd do that, you know."

The man looked down at his fish then across at Iruka's, and swapped them back.

As Iruka was distracted with eating the man looked at his open, unprotected neck and remembered his sword, probably hidden somewhere obvious. The deep ache in his shoulder reminded him to bide his time.

-b-

The sound of Iruka stirring and stretching woke him, but he kept his eyes closed and pretended to still be asleep. There were rustling sounds as Iruka threw off the blankets and pulled on his clothes, and then the sound of his feet shuffling through the grass as he approached gingerly. The man felt his heartbeat quicken and adrenaline flood his veins as Iruka slowly pulled his blankets down, but made every effort to steady his breathing.

At any other point in his life he would have wrestled the man to the floor and slit his throat with his own knife for such a violation, but for some reason he restrained himself.

He felt the warmth and pressure from the other man's palm as he placed his hand over the wound, the touch so gentle it yielded no pain. Then after a moment it was gone and he heard Iruka's footsteps head away and leave the camp, the man seemingly satisfied by what he'd felt.

He opened his eyes and sat upright, placing his own hand over the dressing in the way Iruka had done, and wondered what he had been feeling for.

The man had been taking care of him for three days now (or at least, three that he was awake for) trying to feed him, bringing him water and changing the dressing on his wound, even ripping up one of his shirts when he ran out of cloth. He remembered that his own squad, whom he had previously considered family had come to find him then left him for dead after they had discovered the severity of his condition. He had accepted his fate as a fitting end to such a violent, brutal life and given in to it completely only to awaken to a situation where he presumed he was being held hostage.

But the man had been relentlessly kind to him for reasons he couldn't fathom, and this made him suspicious. He decided that now would be a good time to locate his sword and found it easily in some shrubbery at the base of a nearby tree.

At first it felt good to be re-united with the weapon and he pulled back its sleek black guard to reveal the sharp glinting blade, planning to take Iruka by surprise when he returned from fishing. He couldn't leave him alive and risk being recognised.

A pale, exhausted face looked back at him from the reflection in the sword, the eye that wasn't his making him look into his own soul at the memory of its previous owner. There was emotion there that he had thought long forgotten. Guilt.

He sighed, his shoulders dropping as he reluctantly replaced the sword in its sheath and put the weapon back into the bushes before returning to the camp.

-b-

Iruka returned with a full basket of fish to find the silver-haired man awake and sitting at the fire which he had apparently re-kindled, bare-chested and warming his hands. He placed the basket down near the fire and rummaged in one of his many bags, bringing out a dark blue shirt.

"Put this on. You might catch a cold like that."

He threw it towards the other man, who caught it and slipped it on, seemingly content with the texture and fit.

"Hatake Kakashi." The man said suddenly, without looking round.

Iruka looked over at him, startled. His voice was slightly deeper than he'd imagined, and certainly softer.

"I'm sorry?" He managed, after a while.

"My name." The man explained. "Hatake Kakashi."

---b---

"Kakashi-san! _Kakashi-san?_"

The man's blankets had been empty when Iruka had woken, a little later than usual, and though Kakashi was recovering well it was still early days and Iruka was worried that he'd disappeared back into the forest to try and find his way back to wherever he'd come from.

A very large part of him wondered why he cared at all. So the man that had tried to kill him had wandered off somewhere. Did it really matter? It wasn't like he was great company. But for some reason he couldn't just let it lie, and was annoyed at himself for oversleeping and for putting so much effort into scouring the forest for a largely ungrateful psychopath.

Twigs and other bits of foliage now decorated his hair as he emerged from the undergrowth to the banks of the lake he collected the fish from every morning. The memory of food made his empty stomach growl.

"_Kakashi_-sa-"

Kakashi stood in the middle of the lake, naked from the waist-up and poised with a spear improvised from a long, straight branch. Iruka's shout had made him lose his concentration and he glared over at him.

"What are you doing? I looked for you everywhere!" Iruka shouted to him, exasperated.

"Fishing." Kakashi shouted back simply, irritated at the sudden disturbance by the noisy man.

"Why? I can do the fishing!"

Kakashi gave in and lowered his spear, turning to Iruka.

"I don't like being dependent."

Iruka sighed and pulled some leaves from his hair.

"Will you please come out of the water and let me do that? It's very easy for me."

Kakashi ignored him and trained the tip of the spear at the water again.

"_Fine_." Iruka yelled. "Then I'll show you just how easy."

Kakashi recognised the sound instantly as the moulding of chakra, spinning round to see Iruka plunge his hands into the water. A few seconds later, huge jets erupted from the surface around his position, and a number of fat fish dropped flapping madly onto the bank.

The man gave Kakashi a self-satisfied grin, and held up the biggest fish.

"_Now_ will you come out?"

Kakashi turned his back to Iruka again and ignored his protests.

"Stubborn bastard!" He shouted. "See you in about two hours, then. And don't blame me if you _get infected_."

With that, Kakashi decided he would catch a fish at least twice the size of Iruka's.

An hour later, Kakashi returned to the camp, bottom half dripping with lake water, weeds and probably all manner of wildlife. Iruka looked down at the fire, making every effort not to laugh.

"Did you get one?" He asked.

Kakashi reached down into his trouser pocket and pulled out a desperately pathetic little fish, half of which was missing from the spear strike that had caught it.

Iruka tried his best to hide a grin.

"Would you prefer one of these?" He asked, pointing at the fish beside him, all still uncooked.

Kakashi sat beside Iruka and cleaned his fish, putting it proudly on a skewer and then into the fire. The ones Iruka put in dwarfed it.

"You smell like lake." Iruka told him, looking at him sideways.

"Thanks."

"I can spare you a change of trousers if you want." He offered.

At that moment there was nothing Kakashi wanted more, and he nodded, looking the other man in the eye. Iruka broke from his intense gaze and went to fetch them.

"How long have you been able to do that?" Kakashi asked him, fiddling with the fish skewers.

"Do what?"

"That thing you did to get the fish."

"I dunno," He replied, shrugging, "As long as I can remember I guess."

"Can you do anything else?"

"Yeah, a bit. Why?"

Kakashi paused, then turned towards him.

"Were you originally from a ninja village?"

Iruka nodded. "How did you know?"

Kakashi turned back to the fire.

"Because I'm the same as you."

He held out his hand palm-up as a delicate blue haze of chakra danced over it. Iruka sat beside him and reached out, almost touching the man's hand before he closed it and moved it away.

"I'm not fond of undue contact." He said, almost apologetically.

"Sorry."

Iruka looked over at the fire.

"Umm, you may want to take your fish out now."

The tiny creature had begun to burn, and was looking charred and black. Kakashi whisked it out of the flames and blew it out, looking at it forlornly.

"You don't have to eat that.." Iruka began, but Kakashi had already started to pick the cooked-and-not-burned parts off it and put them in his mouth. It tasted vile but he didn't let it show, concentrating instead on the fact that the meal was well-earned and he had done it all himself.

Iruka watched him eat the minuscule meal with a sneaking growing fondness. When he'd finished, Iruka gave him a proper-sized fish which he refused at first for formality's sake, then accepted and devoured.

"I don't trust you." Kakashi stated suddenly.

Iruka looked down at the ground and poked at the earth with a skewer.

"Ok." He said.

---b---

Fire. The air was thick and foul-tasting from the smoke and soot billowing unseen into the night sky, the roaring flames licking across the village's roofs and tearing through its streets, engulfing everything they touched. He had forgotten that day.

Forgotten the cries of the dying; the desperate, pleading screams of the helpless as they were slaughtered indiscriminately; forgotten the heat of the raging inferno and those who were not quick enough and had burned alive in it. And he had forgotten the laughter. The hollow, soul-less sound that only came from men who had lost themselves in violence so often they could never return.

He realised it was coming from his own mouth, and felt sick.

Something grabbed at the leg of his black trousers and he turned his masked face down to see a small, grubby child at his feet. He kicked it away and returned his attentions to the burning village.

Someone standing at his side took his hand and clasped it round the hilt of a long, straight blade, and helped him thrust the tip through the child's neck. The man's face appeared maddened in the dancing light from the fire, grinning widely as blood stained the grass. He pushed back his long, silver hair and straightened his back.

"You are a man now, my son."

An unseen force grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. He hit out at it, his fist connecting but the force didn't yield. He reached forward and grabbed what felt like a neck, squeezing as tight as he could manage.

Kakashi woke suddenly from the nightmare to find his hands once more at Iruka's throat, and the man beneath him. His lip was broken from the punch, and a small spatter of blood dripped from the cut. Kakashi released the grip on his neck immediately, backing away and burying his face in his hands as Iruka coughed and breathed heavily until he had recovered.

"What were you dreaming about?" He asked, voice rasping in his injured throat.

Kakashi glared over at him.

"Why is it any of your business?"

"I'm just asking," Iruka muttered.

"Why did you interfere? Why did you have to wake me?"

"You were shouting!" The other man protested, moving closer on his knees. "You still seem pretty shaken up about it."

"_I'm fine_!" Kakashi said, angrily, grabbing Iruka by the shirt with both hands.

Then something happened that he never could have predicted.

Iruka brought his arms up and wrapped him in a tight embrace, holding their bodies together. In a single moment it quieted all the demons torturing him, replacing them with an odd serenity that he'd never experienced before. It was…pleasant. The man released him, his touch lingering on Kakashi's arms then at his hands, unpeeling them gently from his shirt. Iruka returned to his bed.

"Thank you." Kakashi whispered into the night.

-b-

"I'm bored of fish." Kakashi announced.

"Congratulations." Said Iruka, sarcastically

"Why don't you ever trap something bigger?"

Iruka looked uncomfortable.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt.."

"It would hurt a lot less than more fish."

"We could liven up the fish with some local berries," Iruka suggested.

Kakashi shot him an unimpressed glare.

Kakashi set a small sprung trap in the forest undergrowth baited with a piece of fruit (much to Iruka's protestation as it was the last of his stash).

He woke later in the day after a nap to find Iruka gone, and followed the tracks he'd left back to the trap they'd lain earlier. Iruka was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the slight clearing, hunched over, his knife by his side. As Kakashi entered the clearing and moved closer to investigate, he noticed that the other man was concealing something in his lap.

As Iruka looked up to meet his gaze apologetically, Kakashi realised that the thing he was concealing was a rabbit. It took pieces of grass happily from the man's hand as he stroked it gently.

"Sorry." He said, scratching the creature behind the ears. "I couldn't bring myself to do it."

Kakashi reached down for the knife and took the rabbit by the ears, lifting the wriggling creature into the air. Iruka opened his mouth to protest but closed it again reluctantly, looking down at the nibbled blades of grass and playing them between his fingers. Kakashi looked from the rabbit down to Iruka and back up again. Iruka prepared himself for the inevitable.

The silver-haired man released the animal back into the undergrowth and watched it bound away unscathed. He turned the blade in his hand and offered the hilt back to its surprised owner.

Iruka sighed and slumped forward with relief. A glint of something beneath his shirt caught Kakashi's attention. He bent down and pointed towards the slightly bulky region under the man's clothes that he hadn't noticed before.

"What's that?"

Iruka's face seemed to sadden as he sat up, and he placed a hand on top of the item holding it to his chest.

"It's nothing." He replied.

Kakashi took Iruka's hand and removed it, reaching into the collar of the man's shirt and pulling out the chain and the small pendant it held. He put it down gently and let it hang on top of Iruka's clothes, the delicate sculpted metal bar catching the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

"It was my mother's." Iruka said, stroking the slim, polished surface.

"Why do _you_ have it?"

Iruka looked at Kakashi with a sad smile.

"Because my parents disappeared when I was young. This was the only thing I could bring with me."

Kakashi helped Iruka to his feet.

"They left you behind?"

"There was a raid on the village," the man said, brushing grass off his knees. "They were never found."

When he looked up, Kakashi was looking at him in a way he never had before.

"Why are you out here, in the forest?"

"I didn't want to be a burden to anyone, so I left to look for them myself. There was nothing for me in the village anyway."

They turned together to walk back to the camp.

"How long-"

"About eight years." Iruka cut in.

He slipped the keepsake back under his shirt.

"I'm…sorry." Kakashi said, looking down uneasily at his feet.

"Thanks."

Iruka opened his mouth to change the subject when Kakashi forced him bodily to the ground and lay on top of him, holding him still with a hand clasped around his mouth. Iruka struggled but in spite of his injury the other man was still slightly stronger than him and had the advantage of position.

"_Please be quiet,_" Kakashi whispered into Iruka's ear so close he could feel the warmth of his breath. "_There are intruders in our camp._"

Iruka stiffened underneath him and stopped struggling.

Kakashi's blood surged with panic for the first time in his life. He knew the men that were picking silently through Iruka's things and noting the number of camp occupants, dressed from head-to-toe in black, faces concealed by a variety of means. He had grown up with them, studied with them, killed alongside them.

His thoughts were thrown into disarray at his instinctive reaction. They had come for him, why not go to them? He and they could be home before sundown and he could return to the life he was used to. But something was stopping him from calling out to them, and he realised with an odd rush that he was concerned for the safety of the man lying beneath him, waiting patiently, _trustingly_ under his weight. He knew they'd kill him, just as he had tried to. But wasn't that still what he intended to do? Wasn't he supposed to be just biding his time and waiting for the right opportunity? But not now. He didn't want him to die _now._ He was still needed.

The three men abandoned the camp. Kakashi slowly released the man he had pressed down into the grass, fingers brushing against Iruka's lips as he removed his hand from around his mouth, catching the faintest hint of moistness.

"Who were they?" Iruka asked, his face concerned.

"Please wait here." Kakashi told him. "There may be traps."

He picked carefully through the camp and the surrounding area, but found no trace of anything suspicious.

"We should leave, in case they come back."

"Were they the ones that attacked you?" asked Iruka.

"Perhaps." Kakashi lied.

Iruka packed his things into a number of small bags as Kakashi extinguished the fire and bundled the blankets together. The brown-haired man left him for a while and returned with his sword.

"I guess you might need this." He said, offering it to Kakashi with a nervous smile.

That night after they had made a new camp about a mile from their previous location he had a worse nightmare, but broke from it before he woke Iruka. For a while he watched the other man sleeping contentedly, not plagued by surfacing regrets and guilt, and longed to be the same.

---b---

Iruka pulled back the bandage and paused. When Kakashi looked up at him his face was heavy with concern.

"What?" He asked.

"I need to give your wound a proper wash. Changing bandages isn't enough anymore."

"Alright,"

"Umm.." Iruka stopped and looked uncomfortable. "By _proper_ wash I mean you need a bath."

"Oh. So?"

"Well… you can't do it yourself so I'll have to get in with you…"

A blush was spreading over the man's cheeks. Kakashi failed to see what the problem was.

"Ok…"

"Well as long as you don't have a problem with it."

"No…"

-b-

The sparkling clear river waters meandered gently through the forest, its lush green banks playing host to a variety of rare and beautiful flowers. The leafy branches of the tall trees on either side of it had grown as though they were reaching out to one-another, providing ample shade from the hot midday sun.

Kakashi dipped a hand into the inviting flow and played his fingers into the soft sand of the river bed, sending it up in a delicate, drifting cloud. He watched it sail downstream.

"I'm getting in." He announced, pulling off the clothes Iruka had leant him and piling them on the bank.

Iruka turned away as Kakashi removed his underwear, hiding his embarrassment. He heard gentle splashes as the other man stepped into the water, and turned back just as his naked buttocks were sliding below the water level. His blush deepened, and he began to undress feeling distinctly uncomfortable. As he pulled his head free of his shirt he noticed that Kakashi was looking in his direction.

"_Hey!_" He shouted angrily. "Don't stand there and watch me undress!"

Kakashi shot him a confused glance, but turned to face away while Iruka stripped.

"I'm coming in now," Iruka announced warily, grabbing a selection of reparative creams, some soaps and a cloth.

As he stepped into the river the water felt cool, but not uncomfortably so. He found it refreshing to be surrounded by something so pure and restorative after weeks without bathing. As he stepped in deeper and came closer to the other man, his heart rate quickened. He put it down to feeling vulnerable.

Dappled lights played over Kakashi's figure, picking out highlights in his luscious silver hair and moving fleeting flecks of ochre warmth over his physique. His body was that of a man about to ascend into full adulthood; skin taught over a lithe and muscular body in its last stages of broadening. He looked down at his own and flexed his shoulders.

Iruka cleared his throat to announce his proximity to Kakashi.

"Hold your hands out in front please."

Kakashi began to turn towards him to comply to his request face to face.

"No! No," Iruka protested, "Just…stay facing that way for now."

He put his hands out in front of him in that position, slowly, ready to counter-attack if Iruka made any sudden moves after such an odd request. Iruka's naked forearms reached around and placed a number of items he didn't recognise into his open palms – various small containers and pots along with a bar of green soap.

He flinched slightly as he felt the man's hands on his shoulder, beginning to unpeel the previous dressing. They moved to his front and removed it from his chest, followed by the familiar sensation of Iruka moving the surrounding skin checking the injury for healing and infection. He wondered if he might actually be getting used to human contact.

Iruka's hands reappeared and exchanged the soap for the used bandages, brushing his upper arm ever so slightly as he pulled back. As he inspected the contents of the dressing, Kakashi felt cool, clean river water cascade over his back and wound as Iruka wrung the cloth out.

Kakashi's skin began to dimple from the sudden drop in temperature, and Iruka tried hard to concentrate on this and not on the water as it rolled down the man's muscular back to the tiny gap between his buttocks showing just above the water level. He lathered up some soap on his hands and placed them firmly but tenderly onto Kakashi's body, transferring the suds and rubbing them in.

"Does that sting?" He asked.

"It's fine." Kakashi replied, wincing slightly.

They stood silently together, the only sounds coming from the gentle rush of the river as it flowed past them and a slight splash every now and then as Iruka soaked the cloth and rinsed it over Kakashi's wound.

Content with that much, Iruka slung the cool, damp cloth over his shoulder and retrieved a small pot from one of Kakashi's hands rubbing the white cream over the rudimentary stitches until it was absorbed, his tanned skin making warm contrast to the other man's pale tone.

Iruka's touch disappeared for a while, and Kakashi turned his head slightly to see what he was doing.

"Umm.." He said suddenly, "I'm coming round to the front now, so…"

"So…?" Kakashi repeated, raising a scarred eyebrow.

"So…umm…close your eyes please."

Kakashi understood enough now not to bother thinking about why.

"Closed."

"Ok…" Iruka said.

There was a series of 'swishes' as he moved though the water round to stand in front of Kakashi, moving in between his outstretched arms.

He avoided looking into the man's face, convinced that if he did so his blush would become unbearable, and began to repeat the procedure. He let his eyes wander slightly over Kakashi's torso until he felt a pang of guilt and brought them back to concentrate on the wound. He washed the soap from his hands and then rinsed it from Kakashi's chest. The man's wound was healing well, and quickly.

Iruka put a hand gently onto Kakashi's shoulder to steady him as he rubbed the cream in, and to Kakashi it felt delightfully warm. Having his eyes shut in the presence of someone else would usually have made him incredibly nervous, but for some reason it felt ok. Good, in fact. He found the motions of Iruka's hands and their firm contact soothing.

The cream was almost all absorbed. Iruka looked from what his hands were doing up to Kakashi's face. For the first time since Iruka had known him he seemed peaceful and untroubled, with no tension in his expression. His lips parted slightly as he breathed in, his chest rising and falling gently. Iruka was unable to draw his gaze away from Kakashi's face, suddenly becoming aware of how close their lips were and how easy it would be to kiss him.

He looked down, distraught at the thoughts running through his mind when he should be tending to an injured man and mortally embarrassed by their nature.

"I'm done." He managed after turning his back to Kakashi, hiding his flushed face. "I'll put a dressing on it when it's dried."

"Thanks."

"You can go back if you want, I'm going to stay here for a little while and get clean."

"You'll need the soap then."

Iruka turned slightly towards the other man who was holding out the small green bar to him. He reached out to take it.

"Thank you."

He saw Kakashi's eyes flicker over him, however discrete he may have meant the action to be. They looked at each other for a moment, exchanging a lingering gaze until Kakashi turned away towards the river bank. Iruka took up the soap and began to wash. As he was dressing, Kakashi sneaked a look over at Iruka, soap suds cascading down his broad, muscled back until they swirled away into the river waters only just obscuring the curvature of his buttocks.

---b---

"What were you doing?"

"Hmm?"

"The night I found you."

"Oh." Kakashi paused and finished his mouthful of fish. "Patrol."

"You live in a village near here then?"

"Not really, no."

"Why were you patrolling so far away?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

Iruka poked at the fire with a stick, irritated by the man's conversational reluctance. Tiny glowing embers floated up into the night sky.

"I'm just interested."

"I don't know why. I'm not interested in you, so why should you have an interest in me?"

Iruka set his jaw and shot the other man a glare.

"Thanks." He said, sarcastically. "At least tell me why those people, whoever they were, tried to kill you."

Kakashi looked straight at Iruka and took another big mouthful of fish, chewing it in a slow, exaggerated motion.

"Never mind, I think I'm beginning to understand." Iruka said, glaring right back. "Fine. Don't tell me anything. Whatever, I don't care."

He picked himself up and slumped heavily onto a nearby log, placing his chin in his hands and staring at the fire. Kakashi regarded him coolly, and after a moment's consideration decided to join him. He scrutinised Iruka's face until he looked up, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Alright." Kakashi said, face deadly serious. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you."

Iruka sat up and looked at him intently.

"The reason why I was so far from my village the night you found me, and the reason I won't answer your questions, and the reason why people want to kill me is that I'm an assassin."

Iruka looked down at the floor, apparently stunned by the revelation. Then Kakashi noticed the corners of his mouth begin to tremble as he bit his lip to keep something in. He released it, and the laughter came pouring out of him so loudly that it took Kakashi aback. He gripped his stomach and rocked forward, almost hysterical. It wasn't the reaction Kakashi had anticipated.

"What? I am!" He insisted, completely bemused.

Iruka grabbed his shirt sleeve and shook his head, begging him to stop. Kakashi looked forward, unimpressed as Iruka recovered his breath and wiped tears from his eyes.

"I'm an assassin." He repeated, in a deep mocking voice, inducing the fits to re-surface and began laughing again.

Kakashi realised he couldn't remember when he'd last heard the sound. He looked at Iruka, lost to aching sides and rapturous giggles, and felt something inside him thaw a little. He gave the other man a slight shove so that he lost his balance and toppled backwards into the dark undergrowth, and smiled to himself.

---b---

The strange lingering cool of the morning had given way to a chill, greying afternoon that carried with it an ill wind. The tarpaulin shelter flapped in the stiffening breeze which disturbed the charcoal remains of the fire and threw them across the camp area.

Iruka looked up at the sky with a sense of dread. Kakashi watched the expression on his face as it grew more serious.

"It's going to be a bad one," He said, looking across at Kakashi. "We should move."

"Where to?"

Iruka shrugged. "We'll just pack up and see if we can find someplace more sheltered."

"That's quite a gamble. We could get caught out in it with no shelter at all."

"Trust me on this." Iruka raised his voice into the wind. "I've seen it before. And a sheet of tarpaulin and some blankets are not going to protect us from what's coming."

They packed the camp away, rolling up the tarpaulin, blankets and gathering other effects, chasing some as they were blown about by the wind. Kakashi was surprised to feel a sudden cold tingling sensation on his arm, and looked down to find the source.

"Umm..Iruka-san," He said, drawing the other man's attention, "I think it's going to snow."

Iruka was about to laugh at him and tell him how ridiculous that was whenever he had the same experience, the snowflake melting away against the heat of his skin.

"Let's go quickly then."

It was more sheltered under the cover of the trees, the canopy providing them cover as they moved through the forest again.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"I don't know." Iruka replied. "I'm never in these parts for the winter season, I go south."

Flurries of snow began to swirl down through the leaves, gradually getting heavier as they walked.

Iruka decided it would be best to treat the sudden snowstorm as though it was a rainstorm, and head for higher ground. As they moved to higher altitudes the forest began to thin, exposing them to harsh icy winds that became a blizzard which coated everything in chilling white. With a sudden wrenching feeling in his gut, Iruka realised that he'd lost Kakashi.

He yelled his name at the top of his lungs, fighting desperately against the blanching, driving storm. A hand appeared from the whiteness and took his, and Iruka turned with much relief to see an exhausted-looking Kakashi. Despite his recovery, he was still weakened from the injury. Iruka realised they'd have to find somewhere soon.

Through the white blur of falling snow he spotted a grey rectangular shape, and lead Kakashi towards it. As they got closer he could make out that it was a building of some sort and turned to smile at the other man with relief. It was derelict but he knocked first as a matter of politeness, and on hearing no response let himself in with Kakashi close behind.

The relative warmth of the shack was bliss compared to the bitter, biting winds outside. Kakashi rubbed his arms and moved from foot to foot to try and recover some warmth. Their clothes were soaked from the chilling snow.

"Take off your shirt." Iruka told him, as he did the same.

They dumped the garments on the floor and Iruka removed blankets from one of his bags, passing one to Kakashi and wrapping the other tightly around himself. They huddled together on the floor, prone against one of the walls.

"You have quite a collection of scars." Iruka said.

Kakashi shrugged.

"How did you get so many?"

"It tends to happen in my line of work."

Iruka paused. "Then, when you said-"

"Yeah, I wasn't kidding."

Iruka looked down at the shape his feet were making in the blanket, and felt uneasy.

"So…that night…" He started.

Kakashi rested the back of his head against the wooden wall.

"I was part of a squad dispatched by my village to kill a feudal lord and his family. His influence was choking our livelihoods, moving trade away to the coastal regions. We couldn't afford to weaken. We do what we need to survive."

Iruka said nothing, furrowing his brows.

"But his guards discovered us," Kakashi continued, watching the man's expression. "And we were forced to flee into the forest. I was the unlucky one they decided to follow."

He rubbed at his wound under the blanket.

"Couldn't you negotiate?" said Iruka, looking up at Kakashi.

"Takes too long. And may eventually come to nothing. The only thing these officials understand is the colour of money."

"But even his family," Iruka looked down at his feet again.

"Can't leave any heirs. It's just the way things are done."

"What else have you done?" Iruka said, looking into his face with a seriousness that Kakashi hadn't seen before.

He looked away and ignored the question.

"Was it people like you who raided my village and took my parents?"

The rawness of emotion coming from the other man and the grave, sudden, coursing guilt it induced in him made Kakashi feel distinctly uncomfortable. He wasn't experienced in feeling that way.

Iruka stood with his blankets and moved to the single glass window in the shack. He remained there for a long time, staring at the snow as it fell and slowly changed the landscape. Kakashi watched him, wondering what he was thinking.

-b-

"I think the storm's abating now," Iruka said, still peering through the window.

"I still can't seem to get warm." Kakashi said, shivering as he watched his breath curl in wisps from his mouth.

Iruka looked over at him and then back to the window, blushing slightly.

"What?"

"Well the best way is…is…"

"_What?_" Kakashi said.

"Exchanging body heat."

"Whatever it takes, I don't care. I'm sick of feeling cold."

Kakashi got to his knees and opened his blankets to Iruka. Iruka hesitated at first, then kneeled on the floor in front of him shedding his own blankets and joining Kakashi in his, slipping his arms around the other man's waist and pulling their bodies together. Kakashi rested his chin on Iruka's bare shoulder and put his hands on the other man's back. Iruka flinched slightly, and he withdrew them.

"Sorry. I know my hands must be cold."

"No, it's fine, please."

Iruka felt Kakashi's cool fingers slide over his back as they stole precious warmth from him. Iruka pushed his body into Kakashi's to maximise the transfer of heat.

"Your heartbeat's racing." Kakashi said.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." Iruka lied.

For a while they kneeled silently in the tight embrace, each enjoying the warmth provided by the other. Then, for reasons unclear to Iruka, Kakashi stiffened and pushed him away forcefully, causing him to fall backwards onto the hard wooden floor. He looked up at the other man in shock. Kakashi was glaring at him with a severity he hadn't seen since the night he'd tried to strangle him.

"_Why?_" He spat.

"What?" Iruka replied, utterly confused and hurt at the sudden rejection.

"What are you planning?"

Kakashi stood, the blanket sliding from his shoulders to the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Iruka said, exasperated.

Kakashi bent and grabbed him by the throat, pulling him to his feet and then pinning him to the wall. Iruka put his arms out to brace against Kakashi's shoulders.

"I never understood any of it. Why you saved me from death, why you kept treating me after I tried to kill you…you must want something from me, I must serve some purpose for you so _tell me what you're planning!_"

"Nothing! I…" Iruka protested.

"Is it to do with my village? Are you a spy?"

"No!"

Kakashi's hands began to squeeze Iruka's neck.

"Then what?" He snarled. "Why are you so relentlessly kind to me despite knowing what I am? Knowing things I could be responsible for? _Why do you look at me the way you do?_"

Iruka pushed Kakashi away, rubbing his throat.

"_You really want to know so badly?_" He shouted. "Fine!"

He stepped forwards and pushed his lips to Kakashi's, pressing them there for a second and feeling the soft tenderness he'd craved for what seemed like an eternity then breaking away, putting the back of his hand to his mouth to cover his embarrassment. He looked up to Kakashi, who simply stood wearing an expression of shock and didn't respond.

Tears brimmed up in Iruka's eyes as he realised his affections were unrequited.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Iruka ran out of the shack, out into the cold desolate landscape. It didn't matter to him where he ran, just that he left it behind, that awful empty feeling of regret. The wind bit his face where tears streaked his cheeks. Without him noticing, the chain that held his mother's charm broke and the metal bar dropped silently into the crisp snow, shining like a polished jewel in the sparse shards of sunlight breaking through the dispersing clouds.

Kakashi raised a hand slowly to his lips and pressed his fingertips to them, remembering the sensation Iruka had given him, the sudden warmth and softness of his kiss, an extraordinary intimacy that he had never been allowed before. The tenderness and pleasure he had felt from so small an action had overwhelmed him, and he had found himself unable to respond. He smiled, and ran out after Iruka.

A little way outside something lying in the snow caught his attention and he stopped to pick it up. The metal bar and slender chain were already cold.

"Kakashi-san."

The deep voice cut his heart to ribbons. He stopped dead and slowly turned to its owner behind him, discretely slipping the necklace into his pocket. An icy wind whipped around his body.

"We've been looking for you. How good to see you are alive and well."

The man was joined by two others, all dressed in black from head to foot except for a few metallic flourishes. They stood in stark contrast to the crisp whiteness of the fallen snow.

The man that had addressed him pointed a gloved finger at the ground.

"Whose are those?" He asked, indicating the tracks Iruka had left.

"Mine." Kakashi replied.

His heart pounded in his chest.

"What are you doing running around half-naked and un-masked in the snow?" One of the other men asked him.

He grinned falsely. "It's invigorating."

"Get what you need." The lead man motioned towards the shack. "We're leaving."

The words wrenched at his insides. He looked back at the forest in the direction Iruka had run.

_Iruka…_

He trudged slowly past them and into the shack, collecting his sword and slinging it over his back. He bent down and touched the blanket Iruka had been wrapped in, feeling the remnants of his warmth and remembered what it had felt like when their bodies had touched and rubbed together. He suddenly felt a desperate sadness. Kakashi gripped the blanket tightly with his hand then dropped it to the floor, stepping out of the shack and back into his old life.

-b-

The night air was filled with a familiar, sickly smell. He had experienced it so many times he had thought he was immune to it, but the stink of burning flesh penetrated his defences and violated his senses. He fought back the urge to vomit.

It was as though he was feeling everything anew, like he was a child again and experiencing it all for the first time. But it was different. This time, he wanted no part of it.

Every village seemed the same, all instances rolling together until one was indeterminable from the next. Every time the murder and rape of the innocent, and the methodical destruction of everything they held dear. There was never any sense in it. The village's only crime was being weak and unprepared.

The other ninjas busied themselves with their various vices as he stood alone in the middle of it, utterly lost. He wondered if this was the fate that had befallen the parents of the wanderer he'd once met deep in a forest far from here.

Since then everything had been different. He looked down at the blade held by his hand; something once so familiar that now felt foreign. He remembered how he had promised it the taste of the man's blood. He remembered the sweetness of the kiss that had changed everything, and put a hand up to the slim metal bar that hung from his neck.

His figure cut a lonely silhouette against the raging flames consuming what remained of the village. He made the sword a new promise; that he would leave it all behind and find the man the charm belonged to.

Kakashi sheathed his blade, turning his back on the carnage of the burning village and walked slowly away into the darkness.

---b---

The man shielded his eyes from the sun and looked out across the wide expanse of shimmering river populated by an assortment of boats.

Most were unremarkable fishing or trading vessels but some, like the one he was on, were huge transport ships built to ferry people and cargo to distant ports. Their masts and hulls were heavy with colourful decorative regalia and long ornate banners displaying their destinations, fluttering merrily in the fresh breeze.

Many of the people he shared the ship with appeared to be leaving the town for work, kissing and holding their loved ones in preparation for what would probably be a long time away from home.

He turned his back to it and leant against the sturdy wooden side of the ship, feeling the wind move his unkempt silver hair. He wondered whether it was time for the ship to set sail yet, and meandered idly to the other side, leaning his arms on the edge and looking out at the people milling around the port. Lovers walked hand in hand and children pestered parents for trinkets and sweets, as in any pastiche of normal life. The man rested his masked chin heavily in his hand and sighed. The scene was idyllic. Everyone he saw seemed happy in some way.

Except for one man in the middle of it all, leaning over the harbour wall and peering forlornly down into the depths of the swirling river. A familiar face…

The man had realised it too late, and as he ran to the boarding point the ship lurched into motion and threw him to the deck. He scrambled desperately to his feet under the weight of his gear and ran back to where he'd been standing. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled the man's name as loud as he could manage.

"_Iruka! _IRUKA!"

The brown-haired man looked up and around, unable to determine where the shout was coming from. Kakashi pulled his mask down in case it was stifling his voice and waved his arms vigorously.

"IRUKA!"

The man saw him at last, staring over at him with complete surprise. Then Kakashi looked down at the water breaking over the ship's hull and remembered what the real problem was. Iruka ran along the harbour, keeping pace with Kakashi and the boat and throwing him desperate glances.

Kakashi stepped up onto the side of the boat, grabbing onto some thick ropes for support. He prepared himself, took a deep breath and jumped as far out as her could manage, landing in the water with a heavy splash. People from the boat and the harbour shouted down to him, chastising him and throwing him ropes. He caught one and was pulled back onto dry land, completely drenched.

He thanked his unimpressed rescuers and pushed his silver hair back, looking around frantically for the man he had seen, scouring the crowds of people for any sign of his tanned skin or scar-bridged nose.

"Kakashi-san,"

A hand caught him by the wrist of his shirt-sleeve and he turned to find the man he'd been searching for in every village and town for the past three years. His face was the same as he'd remembered it but his body was broader, strengthened by the final stages of adolescence and enhanced by the deep blue and white gi he was wearing.

Kakashi laughed and put a wet hand up to Iruka's face, watching the spreading blush as the other man closed his eyes and pushed his cheek into Kakashi's palm.

"I missed you," Kakashi told him.

A pained expression flickered across Iruka's face and he pulled Kakashi's hand down, releasing it back by his side. He gave him a restrained smile.

"It's good to see you too."

Kakashi realised that someone else had been calling Iruka's name. The woman sidled up beside him and hooked her arm around his, looking over at Kakashi and covering her mouth in shock at the state he was in.

"_Who is this?_" She whispered to Iruka.

Iruka cleared his throat.

"This is Hatake Kakashi. I know him from," Iruka paused and looked uncomfortable, "a long time ago. Hatake Kakashi this is my wife, Hisana."

-b-

"Thank you for your hospitality." Kakashi said, bowing slightly before joining the couple at the table after the luxury of his bath.

Hisana put her hand on Iruka's. "Please! It's no bother for an old friend."

She was a pleasant woman, tall and slight with long black hair which Kakashi suspected remained in a constant state of perfection. Her smile was kind and gentle, that of a good mother. She leant forward to pour Kakashi some green tea, deftly lifting the sleeve of her decoratively patterned kimono as she did so. He thanked her.

She smiled again. "I certainly hope that you do not greet all old friends in such a damp manner, Kakashi-san."

He smiled reluctantly.

"I promise you this is the only time, Hisana-san."

"Well then I will excuse myself and take a bath. I'm sure you men have much to catch up on."

The woman stood gracefully and gave a slight bow before leaving, tracing a hand over Iruka's shoulders as she went.

As her footsteps moved upstairs there was an uneasy silence between the two men. The air hung thick with things unsaid.

"Looks like I'm stealing your clothes again." Kakashi offered, glancing down at the borrowed brown gi.

Iruka smiled at him; a glance that turned into a lingering look. Both of them studied their tea.

"What have you been doing all these years? Hadn't pictured you as the type to settle down." Kakashi said, tilting his head to the side and looking across the table at the other man.

Iruka put his cup down and rotated it with the tips of the fingers of one hand, leaning his head against the other.

"Me either." He smiled. "I came by here about two years ago for supplies and realised that I'd run out of money. I took a manual job working for a man down at the port who liked me enough to ask me to do a bit of tutoring for his youngest son. Didn't intend to stay for long but weeks stretched into months without me realising it. Then the man I was working for introduced me to his daughter, and I decided to stay a bit longer. We got married last spring."

Iruka put the cup up to his lips, swallowing the tea in one mouthful and wishing it was something stronger.

"Any children?" Kakashi asked with a tone of urgency that he regretted as soon as the words had left his mouth.

"No." Iruka laughed, and looked up at Kakashi. "You're different than I remember."

"Oh?"

"Lighter, somehow."

"Travelling does that to you, I guess. I've had time to make peace with my former life."

They held each other's gazes until Kakashi remembered something.

"Oh, I believe this is yours."

He pulled the silver chain from around his neck and passed it across the table to Iruka.

"I thought I'd lost this!" He said, delighted.

"Yeah, sorry." Said Kakashi, scratching his head. "I found it in the snow after…"

Iruka slipped it over his head, looking at the fixed broken link and feeling the warmth coming from the metal pendant that had come from Kakashi's body. A faint redness returned to his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Iruka said, remembering the metal bar with his fingertips. "For…"

He looked up at Kakashi, then away again after finding himself unable to hold the other man's gaze.

"I shouldn't have…it didn't mean anything."

Kakashi looked at Iruka for a while and then studied the features of the tabletop, saying nothing.

"Perhaps we should call it a night," Iruka said, looking out of the open doors onto the moonlit garden. "I hope you don't mind sleeping in the guest-house."

"Even sleeping in the garden would be relative luxury." Kakashi said, with a sad smile.

They stood, and another moment heavy with unspoken words passed between them as they looked at one another, then Kakashi walked out into the garden. He looked back across to the house and Iruka before closing the door behind him and standing alone in the silent darkness of the guest-house.

Iruka turned out the living room lights and stood there for a moment, looking at the place on the floor where Kakashi had been sitting and wondering how he felt about the man's return. He looked up the stairs to the top floor of the house where his wife was preparing for bed, and felt an overpowering wave of sadness.

---b---

_What am I doing here?_

Kakashi sat up and put his head in his hands. Despite the glorious softness of the futon and his exhausted state he couldn't sleep, and had allowed his thoughts to wander down depressing routes unchecked. He felt a deep sense of guilt for wishing Iruka hadn't met the woman who became his wife, but after three years of searching for him he guessed he shouldn't expect to feel any other way.

He turned his head away from the thoughts and into a shaft of pale moonlight drifting through one of the high windows and stared up at the stars, jealous of their celestial indifference to such insignificantly small matters. He decided to leave at the first light of dawn, and closed his eyes. The hopes that had carried him over such a great distance, through the sapping heat and bone-chilling cold, past seemingly insurmountable odds suddenly melted away to nothing.

-b-

The warmth of the morning sun brought Kakashi no relief from his night of restless sleep as he collected his belongings and slipped out of the Umino household silently. As he closed the gate he buried the surging emotions and second thoughts plaguing him, and prepared to forget them forever.

-b-

The town centre was already bustling by the time he reached the docks, the market doing good early business from women shopping for daily supplies. He walked past them unnoticed and uninterested in their affairs until he spotted a woman he recognised, diverting his path quickly from hers.

The woman stopped at a fresh food stall and chose a selection of fish. Kakashi was annoyed by how Hisana could still be so irritatingly radiant so early in the morning, turning away from her and walking with a quickened pace towards the boats. He looked over his shoulder to afford himself a final glare at the unsuspecting woman but stopped dead in the flow through the market, drawing scorn from passers-by for being in the way.

A tall man who wasn't Iruka had his hand placed firmly on Hisana's backside through her delightful kimono, and she showed no sign of protest or resistance. Kakashi considered the fact that he might be an overly-familiar relative, then dismissed the thought when the man pushed Hisana's long hair behind her ear and whispered something into it which made her put her hand to her mouth and giggle flirtatiously. The pair composed themselves and left together.

His thoughts and carefully considered arguments were thrown into disarray as he stood, unmoving in the flow of people, watching the adulterous woman flit away and probably into the arms of her lover when in private. Kakashi felt a spiteful rage building inside him and moved to take a step in their direction when something heavy and forceful grabbed his arm and drew his attention.

"Kaka…Kakashi-san," Iruka panted, leaning on his knee to catch his breath and maintaining a tight grip on Kakashi's sleeve.

Kakashi whipped his head round to find Hisana and the man who'd been with her, but they had already disappeared from view. Iruka stood and looked at him, face pricked with sweat.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled angrily, flourishing the note Kakashi had left on the futon on top of the returned gi.

Kakashi looked at Iruka. "I should leave you to your life." He smiled, unconvincingly. "I had no business leaping back into it like that."

"I never asked you to go."

"I…I should go." Kakashi said, looking over to the boats moored at the dock.

"Is this a habit you have? Bursting into people's lives and then abandoning them?"

He released his grip on Kakashi's shirt and scowled at him.

"You should at least have the decency to say good-bye this time." He added.

"I hate good-byes."

"Then stay." Iruka said

Kakashi looked into Iruka's face, and found no doubt in his mind. He nodded slowly.

---b---

"Where's Hisana-san today?"

"She's spending the day with one of her friends. I'm sorry you've had to put up with my cooking again."

Kakashi laughed. It wasn't a sound Iruka was used to, but one that he enjoyed. The man's face suited the happier disposition he'd discovered on his travels.

"Nostalgic," Kakashi said, smiling.

The evening had brought with it a soothing cool that demanded good food and good company outside to complement it. A delicate breeze rushed through the trees of the forest behind the house.

"Iruka-san…" Kakashi began, but then thought the better of it and waved a dismissive hand, taking another sip of warm sake.

Iruka raised an eybrow. "What?"

"Nothing."

"_What?_" He grinned.

Kakashi looked at him and then at his toes, playing them through the chill grass of the lawn.

"Now _this_ is nostalgic." Iruka said, leaning back and stretching out on the wooden boards of the guest house porch. "Conversations with you were much less taxing back then."

"I saw Hisana-san with another man." Kakashi said, eyes fixed on his feet.

Iruka was quiet for a while, and Kakashi let him be. Eventually, he sat up.

"I know." He said finally.

Kakashi shot him a confused look, but Iruka didn't meet his gaze. He poured himself another sake and swallowed the contents of his cup in one go.

"You're not going to do anything about it?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka leant back, propped up on his hands and shook his head.

"Nope." He said, and then laughed. "It's my fault anyway."

"What are you talking about?"

Iruka glared at him and then looked sad, staring up at the first stars to become visible in the darkening sky.

"It's not easy for a man to admit he can't satisfy his wife."

Kakashi stared at Iruka. He realised this might seem a bit impolite, and looked back down at the grass.

"You mean…"

"Not even once. Tried, on our honeymoon. Didn't work. So we have an agreement."

"Do you love her?" Kakashi asked suddenly.

Iruka looked at Kakashi, with his differently coloured eyes and pale skin radiant in the dimming light.

"Yes," He replied.

They were quiet for a while, watching the stars appear from their blue daytime cloak.

"It was easier to deal with before you…" He trailed off.

"To 'deal with'?"

Iruka met his gaze. "If I forgot about you I could cope with the idea of living the rest of my life in a state of mediocrity. I had resigned myself to that, and I was happy. But seeing you made me remember…"

Iruka looked away, and Kakashi turned to him.

"Remember what?"

Iruka lifted his face from shadow and formed an incredibly sad smile.

"What it's like to really _feel_."

Kakashi leant in and kissed Iruka once, gently, on the corner of his mouth then pulled back slightly to gauge his reaction. He kissed him again, full on the lips. Iruka pushed into it, remembering the softness of their first kiss long ago.

He broke from it and covered his nose and mouth with cupped hands, staring forwards with wide eyes.

"Iruka-sa-"

Kakashi went to touch Iruka on the shoulder but he stood up, his hands and face unmoving. The silver-haired man felt a rush like icy needles impaling his insides.

"Damn you, Hatake Kakashi." He said, walking towards the house. "Damn you."

---b---

A polite but insistent tapping against the door of the guest-house roused Kakashi from what had been yet another unfulfilling night's rest, punctured by regret and guilt. He rolled out of the futon and quickly pulled on his clothes, making his bed-hair more presentable by flattening it as he walked to the door.

As he slid it open he was surprised to be greeted by Hisana.

"Good morning Kakashi-kun," She smiled. "So sorry if I woke you. May I come in?"

"Of course," He replied, a little surprised by her request.

She removed her slippers and he moved aside to let her pass. The woman seated herself on a broad beige ornamental sofa towards the back of the room and patted the area beside her, indicating to Kakashi that he was to sit.

"I have sent Iruka to gather some things for me from the market, and I realised that despite the fact that you've been staying with us for nearly three days now, I don't know you at all."

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, sitting, but a little further away than where Hisana had patted. "What would you like to know?"

"How exactly do you know my husband?"

"He saved my life a long time ago. I owe him a great deal."

She smiled broadly.

"And you came all this way to return that heirloom?"

"Not really," Kakashi lied. "I just carried it with me on the off-chance that I ever saw him again. It was just luck that I saw him on the dock that day."

"Lucky indeed." She smiled coyly. "Didn't you get lonely on your travels?"

"A little, perhaps." He replied, with an edge of caution.

"I know my husband did. It surprises me that he never mentioned you."

"Oh." Kakashi said. "He probably met a lot of people, and it has been three years after all."

There was an uneasy silence. Hisana looked down at the sleeves of her kimono and worried the edges with her slight fingers.

"I saw you in town the other morning." She said, not looking up. "I know you probably saw me…please don't think badly of me."

Her sleek black hair began to fall forwards like a luxurious curtain. Kakashi said nothing.

"I've waited for so long, hoping he'd fall in love with me, but I don't think he ever will."

She clasped her hands tightly together in her lap, and Kakashi realised with a sinking feeling that she was crying.

"_It hurts too much_," She whispered.

He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She put her hand up to his and turned her face towards him, looking deep into his eyes. He realised her intentions and drew back. She looked away in embarrassment, smoothing her kimono.

"I'm leaving him." She said. "I love him but I can't bear this life any longer."

Hisana put her hands up to her face

"I thought I'd grow old with him,"

"I'm sorry." Kakashi said softly.

She let out a gentle laugh.

"Please forgive me, Kakashi-kun."

Hisana got to her feet and walked past him to the door with a familiar air of grace. She returned to the house without looking back.

-b-

Iruka watched her leave, as beautiful and fair in her blue silk kimono as the day he'd met her, walking out into the glorious sunlight. She turned to him one more time and smiled a last sad smile before closing the door on him forever.

He stood where she'd left him for a while, remembering her and wishing that he'd tried a little harder but wondered if his heart had ever been in it in the first place. His thoughts drifted to Kakashi, and how merely to be in the man's presence affected him so greatly. The feelings he had never truly admitted to and had thought were long buried welled up from where they had lain and filled him once more.

Iruka thought about the shack and the bitter cold and the warmth of their bodies together; skin against skin. He remembered the kiss and the terrible feeling that had followed it, and then the worse feeling of returning and finding the other man gone and his necklace lost. He remembered how he had wept, cold and hungry and suddenly alone for what seemed like days of aching wretchedness, his soul freezing as the snow outside melted away.

Losing Kakashi had removed whatever drive he had left to continue his journey, and for weeks he did nothing. He had found the loneliness unbearable, so had decided to stay for a while in the next town he passed through, but never left.

Iruka realised with the numbness in his legs that he had been standing and thinking for a long time. He moved them to get the blood flowing again, then took a few steps, then a couple more until he found himself outside in the garden shielding his eyes from the lowering sun and looking at the guest-house.

---b---

His feet carried him to the door, and he knocked once, then again, his heart pounding in his chest. The door slid open to reveal Kakashi, standing in his worn wanderer's clothes.

Iruka opened his mouth to speak, then thought better of what he was about to say.

"Where the hell did you go?" He sputtered finally, shaking with emotion.

Kakashi looked at the other man, puzzled. "What?"

Iruka pushed past him and into the guest-house, turning to glare at him.

"When I…" He stopped, looking away. "After I…why did you leave?"

Kakashi stepped towards him.

"I'm sorry, I -"

"I looked for you for days!" Iruka shouted. "I thought you might have died somewhere in the cold but you just left? No word of thanks, no 'goodbye'?"

"Iruka-"

"I took care of you! I fixed you, I didn't have to! You owed me that, at least-"

"Iruka!"

Kakashi took Iruka by the arms and shook him gently, looking into his face so that he'd listen.

"My squad found me." He said, curling his fingertips into the fabric of Iruka's gi. "I was afraid they might kill you."

"But I helped you, why would they?"

"For the same reason I tried to…You'd seen my face."

Iruka looked down, his eyes resting on Kakashi's chest.

"That's stupid." He muttered.

Kakashi watched Iruka's face, illuminated by the last shafts of light from the dying sun.

"Be glad that you have no idea why it's so important."

He noticed the bump in Iruka's gi formed by his mother's pendant, and his fingers wandered to it, parting the material and revealing the silver bar. It felt warm from being close to the man's chest.

"Did you find them?" He asked, studying the delicately formed piece of silver. "Is that why you stayed here?"

"No," Iruka replied, "I just got tired of travelling. I could cope with the loneliness until after you left me."

"When you…It wasn't that I didn't like it…I just didn't know what to do. I followed you but that was when they found me. I didn't leave you by choice."

His fingers moved slightly from the pendant to the collar of Iruka's gi.

"I couldn't stand the horrors of my old life. Whoever I used to be had died during the time I spent with you. I've been looking for you for the three years since we parted so I could return this precious thing to you."

Iruka looked down at the suspended metal bar.

"To be honest, it wasn't this that I was most happy to be re-united with." He said, giving Kakashi a small smile.

Kakashi kissed him, gently at first then harder as Iruka parted his lips and searched for his tongue.

Iruka's body ached for Kakashi's touch after so many years of wanting him, but suddenly he drew away, resting his forehead against Kakashi's and closing his eyes.

"_Undress me,_" He whispered.

Kakashi obliged, his body surging with the heat of the request, pressing his full lips to Iruka's neck as he peeled back the top of the man's blue gi, feeling the warmth of the exposed skin against him through his clothes. He pulled away and looked down at Iruka's naked upper body; his rich tanned colouring and muscular physique. Kakashi took Iruka by the upper arms and pushed him gently backwards towards the futon, looking into his hungry brown eyes.

They lay down, Kakashi between Iruka's legs, kissing hard again as their hands wandered desperately over one another, into hair and under clothes.

"I've thought of you like this so many times." Kakashi told Iruka breathlessly as he began to slip down, kissing and licking and biting the other man's body, drawing stifled moans and clenching of the fingers that found themselves in his lustrous hair. He traced the tip of his tongue over the taut muscles of Iruka's stomach, feeling himself get hard as the breath in the man's abdomen quickened the lower he got.

Iruka's body tensed suddenly then shuddered, his head jerking backwards as he breathed erratically. A moment later he looked down at Kakashi with a deep crimson blush across his cheeks and the silver-haired man realised with a smile that the intensity of the situation had gotten to him a little earlier than he'd intended.

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologise, idiot."

Kakashi untied the obi holding Iruka's gi together and parted it to uncover his erection, running a hand over it to remove the sticky mess he'd made and covering his fingers in come. He put his tongue to Iruka's slit and massaged it slowly, savouring the taste of the delicious honey still flowing from him. Kakashi played over the head and underneath it, switching from flat to tip for maximum tease. He was unable to see Iruka's face, but the man's hands were clenching and pulling and unclenching against the material of his gi and the futon.

Kakashi put his lips softly to Iruka's erection, kissing the head and slowly parting them as he slipped down over it, flicking at the underneath with the tip of his tongue. Iruka moaned deeply and spread his still-dressed legs wider, overcome by a surging pleasure he had never experienced before. It intensified as Kakashi began to massage his balls, and he felt fingertips explore down further until they reached places where he'd never been touched before, stroking and caressing firmly until Iruka was desperate for Kakashi to slip inside, even just a little. He bit his lip to stop from begging.

It was getting too much again, the caressing with lips, fingers and tongue driving him fast towards an ecstasy he wasn't sure he could handle. At last he felt Kakashi's fingers slip into him, slowly deeper, deeper until there was no more left. The fingers explored him inside, eventually pushing on a place that forced him onto another plane of existence where there was no repressed guilt, no memory of aching loneliness, no outside world only the room and Kakashi and the transcending, building animal want surging through his body.

He came hard, the tension flowing out with his orgasm into the waiting mouth of the man who'd caused it all as he moaned his name between guttural groans, tangling himself in the remains of his gi as he writhed under Kakashi's expert touches. The ecstasy gave way to a tingling elevation and Iruka's body finally relaxed.

Kakashi wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and removed his fingers, laying himself between Iruka's legs again and kissing him. Iruka pulled off Kakashi's shirt and reached into his trousers, massaging his erection and wrapping his legs around Kakashi's hips, holding him in and pushing him down. The silver-haired man groaned softly in Iruka's ear then sat up into a kneeling position, pulling the rest of the gi from around Iruka and flinging it away to the side before pushing off his remaining clothes and doing the same. He was about to return to his position when he stopped.

"What?" Iruka asked, attempting to mask his impatience.

"One more thing." Kakashi smiled, taking up Iruka's left hand and sliding the ring finger into his mouth, pulling the wedding band off with his teeth and spitting it away to land with a resolute 'ting' across the other side of the room.

Iruka looked at the place where the ring had been, long enough to make a slight indentation, then up to Kakashi, who grabbed his hand and pinned him down, pressing his hard, naked erection against Iruka's taut stomach.

"I want to be inside you, Iruka-san." Kakashi said into Iruka's lips.

"I've wanted that for three years, Kakashi-san." Iruka replied, pushing his lips hard against the other man's.

Kakashi pulled Iruka's hips up and pushed inside as slowly as he could bear against the sudden feeling of enveloping warmth and stimulating tightness. Iruka was still wet from his own come, which made it easier but even more arousing. He leant forward and rested his forehead against Iruka's chest, licking the groove between the man's pectoral muscles and tasting the salt from his body as he moved inside him. The pleasure was too much for him to bear.

"Shit, Iruka, _I'm coming…_"

Iruka watched Kakashi's face intently as he raised his head, eyes closed and mouth open, eyebrows furrowed in ecstasy as he moaned loudly and came deep inside him. He collapsed against Iruka's chest and breathed heavily for a while. Iruka pushed gentle fingers through his sweat-soaked hair and smiled to himself.

"Sorry that wasn't very long…" Kakashi gasped.

"You lasted longer than I did."

Kakashi lifted himself with some effort and slid out of Iruka, laying beside him.

"You feel far too good." He said, finally recovered. "Did it hurt?"

Iruka looked at him. "A little. But it's easy to forget."

Kakashi licked Iruka's lips than bit them, pulling gently at the lower one as he reached down to touch him again.

"I'd better make it up to you then." He said, with a devious grin.

Iruka's head jerked backwards as he felt Kakashi's mouth connect with his erection again. He decided that the best way to fight it was to concentrate on reciprocating, and reached over to massage Kakashi's balls and get him hard again. The man uttered a delightful moan that reverberated down Iruka's shaft as he moved his mouth along it.

Kakashi shifted his position so that he was knelt over Iruka to allow them both better access to what they were doing. Iruka tried desperately to divert all his attentions to his hands on Kakashi, moving them over him as the man let him know what felt good through small groans. Iruka took in the delicious view and etched it in his mind for posterity; Kakashi's legs spread above him and the sight of himself disappearing and reappearing and disappearing between the other man's lips.

He reached his head up and put his tongue to the spot behind Kakashi's balls and licked it gently, responding to the moaned positive feedback. He traced his tongue slowly higher. Kakashi spread his legs a little wider. Iruka licked up a little further until he was almost at the edge of the rim, and though Kakashi has ceased moaning he wasn't pulling away either.

Iruka slipped his hands under and over Kakashi's hips, holding his buttocks firmly in place as he moved his tongue up a little more until he was over Kakashi's opening. The man moaned deeply and pushed his mouth down further over Iruka's erection. Iruka pressed his tongue to Kakashi, pulling it slowly over and back again, noticing his quickly-returning erection.

Iruka released one hand from the grip he held on Kakashi's hips and brought it up to massage him in place of his tongue. Kakashi angled his hips down towards Iruka and he took the hint, pushing his fingers gently inside. He repeated what he had felt Kakashi do to him before, gliding his fingertips around until he came across a spot that drew sudden shudders from the other man. He pressed against it gently and delighted in the response it drew as Kakashi momentarily forgot what he was doing to Iruka, distracted by his own pleasure, dripping beads of sticky pre-come onto the chest of the man beneath him.

Suddenly, Kakashi moved and stood up, removing his mouth from Iruka and Iruka's fingers from inside him. After a moment's hesitation he turned around and sat down over Iruka's groin, pushing back so that Iruka's erection slid between his buttocks. Kakashi leant on Iruka's chest with one hand and grabbed his erection with the other, positioning it underneath him and beginning to slide down on it.

Iruka grunted and clenched his teeth against the sheer delicious feeling, and when he looked up Kakashi was grinning down at him seductively.

"Hard to resist, isn't it." He said.

He grabbed Iruka's hands and pinned them behind his head, flicking his hips slowly and watching the man's face as the tension built up in him again.

"Slow down," Iruka begged him as he increased the speed and power of his thrusts, but Kakashi refused.

"It's too good…"

Kakashi responded by switching the angle of his thrusts, but it felt even better. Iruka's grip on the hands pinning him tightened.

"_Kakashi-san…_"

Kakashi stopped. He looked down into the frustrated face of the man beneath him, who attempted to push up into him to no avail, then started moving again faster than before, thrusting down onto Iruka's erection harder and deeper until the man cried out, his back arching and legs tensing.

"_Kakashi…Ah! Kakashi-sa…!_" He moaned as Kakashi gently drew the last of the orgasm from him.

Kakashi leant forward and kissed his exhausted face. Iruka lifted Kakashi's hips to withdraw, rotating underneath him before he could climb off and raising his buttocks. Kakashi bent over him and pulled his head up slightly so that he could kiss him, sliding his tongue over Iruka's.

"You're insatiable." He whispered into his ear, nipping his lobe and drawing a moist line with his tongue down his neck to his shoulder.

"Please…" Iruka said, gripping the pillow with impatience.

He moaned loudly as Kakashi slipped back inside him, and pushed back on his thrusts with all his strength.

"It's no good like this," Kakashi said, stopping suddenly and withdrawing.

Iruka shot him a bemused look laced with barely concealed disappointment. Kakashi grabbed his shoulder and turned him over.

"I can't see your face that way."

He pushed back inside and pressed his body to Iruka's, moving over him as he thrust into him, their sweat-drenched bodies rocking in synchrony. Iruka's arms were around him, hands all over him, fingers pressing into his back. His legs wrapped around his hips, their movement urging him to go faster and penetrate him deeper.

"Kakashi, I'm almost…"

"Ahn…Me too…"

They came together, kissing desperately until both were finished.

Kakashi rested his chin against Iruka's shoulder until he had recovered his breath, delighting in the heat of the other man's body and the feeling of each breath as his chest rose and fell. Iruka relinquished his grip on Kakashi's body and let his limbs fall limp to the futon. He swept Kakashi's hair back and lifted his chin to see his face, smile fading as he noticed the man's troubled expression.

"What's wrong?" He asked, stroking the back of his fingers over Kakashi's scarred eye.

"Do you believe in karma, Iruka-san?"

"What are you talking about?"

Kakashi withdrew and lay beside Iruka on the futon.

"I've killed people; done unspeakable things that I wish I could forget but here I am with you, feeling unbelievable ecstasies as though I have nothing to regret." He put his head down on the pillow and looked into Iruka's eyes. "The people in the villages I helped raid, what did they do? And yet a monster like me is allowed to be with someone like you…"

He stroked Iruka's tanned cheek and gently traced his scar.

"What if it was me…" He said quietly. "Your parents…"

"No." Iruka said quickly. "That's a face I'll never forget, and it wasn't yours."

"If not yours, then someone else's." He said, looking away and studying the ceiling as though watching old memories play over it.

"How long have you been torturing yourself with that?" Iruka asked him.

"Since I fell in love with you."

Iruka stared at him. Kakashi's hand slipped up into his hair.

"In the snow storm, with your body to mine."

Iruka kissed him.

"Perhaps that guilt is your penance." He said.

"I want to be inside you." Kakashi said.

"I don't think I could handle another orgasm," Iruka laughed.

Kakashi smiled, and closed his eyes. "Not now, but later. Tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after that. For as long as you'll let me."

Iruka watched his face as he slipped gently into a deep sleep and stayed that way for a while until he too succumbed to the post-coital bliss.

-b-

The morning woke him with a delicate shaft of bright sunlight that dusted his features with an inviting warmth and he opened his eyes, blinking into it until they adjusted. He remembered the previous night and smiled, turning to his lover. Kakashi was still asleep and pressed up against him, the blankets draping over them both at the waist.

Iruka climbed on top of him and kissed him, smiling at him as he woke, stretching and rubbing his eyes before raising an eyebrow at the man that had mounted him. He pushed a hand up Iruka's thigh to the muscle definition in his groin.

"Already?" He said.

Iruka stood, legs either side of Kakashi.

"Not yet. I just thought it would be the most efficient way to wake you. Do you want some breakfast? French toast, not fish."

Kakashi rolled onto his front.

"Sounds good." He said, voice muffled by the pillow.

"Don't fall asleep again, bastard." Iruka said, walking over to his gi and stepping into it.

"Mm-hmm.."

"I forgot, I need to wash this." He muttered to himself, tying the obi and fixing his hair back into the tie.

"Well, good sir, breakfast will be waiting for you. Please join me as soon as you're ready."

Iruka started towards the door.

It opened suddenly, revealing a tall man in late middle-age wearing a flustered expression. Iruka quickly bowed forward to him.

"Fuyuki-san!"

"Please don't, Iruka-san." The man said, bowing also. "I have suffered enough embarrassment at the hands of my daughter today. Please forgive her outrageous behaviour."

"I have already forgiven her, Fuyuki-san. It is better that she be happy than stay with someone she doesn't love."

The man seemed relieved and raised from his bow, seemingly unaware of the nervousness in Iruka's voice.

"You are too kind." He looked to Kakashi, half-uncovered and sitting upright. "This must be your guest. I'm sorry for intruding" He said, bowing once more.

Kakashi nodded to him carefully, watching his moves closely.

"Please stay in the house for as long as you need." He said, turning to the door.

As he moved towards it he noticed something shiny on the floor and bent to pick it up. He examined it for a moment and turned back to Iruka.

"I believe this is yours." He said, with a forced smile.

"Thank you." Iruka said, his voice trembling ever so slightly.

The man left. Iruka stood very still, holding the wedding ring between his finger and thumb.

"Hisana's father, I take it?" Kakashi said, slipping out from under the covers and standing.

"We have to leave." Iruka said, without turning round.

"What?" Kakashi said, pulling on his shirt. "Go where? Aren't we having breakfast first?"

"He knows. We have to leave."

"Oh."

-b-

They packed quickly; Iruka changed into some more suitable clothes and collected money and food. Before they left the house Iruka placed the gold ring down on a surface in the kitchen where he knew Fuyuki would find it, then joined Kakashi on the other side of the garden face. He looked up at the border of trees and thought about all the years he had spent on the road.

"Are you sure you want to start this all over again?" Kakashi asked him.

Iruka smiled, and took him by the hand.

~fin~


End file.
